Gonorrhea

What Is Gonorrhea?

What Are STDs?

STDs (also called sexually transmitted infections or STIs) are infections that spread through sex (vaginal, oral, or anal). Some STDs can spread through close contact with the genitals or body fluids.

How Do People Get Gonorrhea?

Gonorrhea spreads through sex (vaginal, oral, or anal) with someone who has the infection.

What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Gonorrhea?

Someone with gonorrhea may have:

discharge from the vagina, penis, or anus

in men, pain in testicles

in women, vaginal bleeding between periods

pain in the lower belly

pain when peeing

rectal pain, especially when having a bowel movement (pooping)

Many people with gonorrhea have no symptoms. They can spread the infection to others without knowing it.

What Causes Gonorrhea?

A type of
bacteria
, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, causes gonorrhea.

How Is Gonorrhea Diagnosed?

To find out if someone has gonorrhea, health care providers do tests on:

urine (pee)

fluid or discharge from the vagina, cervix (opening to the womb), urethra (where pee comes out), throat, or anus

How Is Gonorrhea Treated?

Health care providers treat gonorrhea with
antibiotics
. Two antibiotics are needed because the gonorrhea germs may not be killed with only one antibiotic. The first antibiotic is given as a shot in the doctor's office. The second antibiotic is taken by mouth.

All sexual partners from the past 2 months need treatment too, even if they don't have signs of gonorrhea.

If someone still has symptoms after treatment, they may need treatment with different antibiotics. Or they may have been infected with gonorrhea again.

People can get gonorrhea again if:

their partners aren't treated with antibiotics

they get treated but then have sex with someone else who has gonorrhea